The Oscars are Sunday, which means it’s time to place your bets with online oddsmakers and Las Vegas casinos. There are a dozen hotly-contested races that are wide open, and it’s anyone’s guess who will take the stage at the Dolby.
TheWrap’s film reporter and amateur gambler Jeff Sneider has analyzed the field and come up with a well-researched list of Oscar bets that it may be worth your while to make.
This is the one time of year when industry observers may have a leg up on professional oddsmakers, as there continues to be confusion regarding the following categories — actor, adapted screenplay, documentary, foreign language film, original song, hair and makeup, visual effects, sound mixing, sound editing and all three short film categories.
Watch the video to find out what you could do to win money this year, but don’t blame Sneider if you lose. That’s the risk you’ll have to take if you want to give a victory speech like Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette.
Julianne Moore stuns in both a red frock and with her performance in "Still Alice." She claimed the Desert Palm Achievement Award for her turn as a woman suffering early onset Alzheimer's. “Obviously it was a very emotional role, but I brought home the joyful parts, the appreciation of life and of my own family," Said Moore. "This was a story about facing loss, but also about acknowledging those things.”
Jeff Vespa
"Birdman," star Michael Keaton and director Alejandro González Iñárritu, strike a distinguished pose. “Thirty minutes ago, my personal Birdman inside was telling me, ‘You are a piece of shit!’ And I believed him. But five minutes later he said, ‘You are the best!’” said Iñárritu
Jeff Vespa
Keaton presented Iñárritu with director of the year saying, “We work in a business that instills narcissism, self-involvement and ego ... so I can’t tell you how great it feels not to talk about myself tonight.”
Jeff Vespa
Rosamund Pike claimed the Breakthrough Award for her wicked turn in "Gone Girl," though in an acceptance speech admitted, "not a week went by when I didn’t come home from the set thinking, 'I can’t do this.'”
Jeff Vespa
Rosamund Pike once told her agent that she wanted to work with Fincher, only to be told that Fincher would never cast a Bond girl. Never say never. “I got to play every part of being a woman: the sexy and fun-loving side, the nurturing and kind side, even if it was an act, the angry side, the vulnerable side, the truly diabolical side. It was everything, and it was thrilling," she said.
— Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Jeff Vespa
Best supporting actor nominee for "Whiplash, J.K. Simmons said: “I like being the supporting guy. And that was obviously part of the joy of doing 'Whiplash,' because this is just a bigger supporting part than usual. But I have no illusions about being a movie star. I’m just glad to be able to work.”
Jeff Vespa
Golden boy Benedict Cumberbatch is a darling of Hollywood and the Internet, but missed a certain "Imitation Game" costar. "Keira Knightley thought this was taking place in Palm Beach,” he said, “so she couldn’t be here.”
Jeff Vespa
“Alan Turing wasn’t just a lone, troubled genius who was awkward and difficult and different," Benedict Cumberbatch (with Morten Tyldum) said about his "The Imitation Game" character. "He perhaps became like that over time, but I think that was very much from losing his first love, being a homosexual man at a time of intolerance, working in a very secret environment. the script showed us that complex, very empathizable and human man.”
Jeff Vespa
Benedict Cumberbatch, with director Morten Tyldum, said of the "Imitation Game" cryptologist: "Alan Turing was a war hero, he was a gay icon, and he was the father of modern computer science.”
Jeff Vespa
"The Imitation Game's" behind-the-scenes foursome: Editor William Goldenberg, producer Nora Grossman, writer Graham Moore and producer Ido Ostrowsku.
Jeff Vespa
Ido Ostrowsky and Nora Grossman of "The Imitation Game" cracked the code for desert magic, as their cast claimed Best Ensemble.
Jeff Vespa
Math never looked so good: "The Imitaiton Game's" supporting actors Matthew Beard, Alex Lawther and Allen Leech.
Jeff Vespa
Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Robert Duvall accepted the PSFF Icon Award. “When I was growing up, the only thing I knew about drama was cowboys and Indians. I said, ‘I want to be an Indian.’ I was shocked when I found out that you have to be born an Indian," said "The Judge" actor. "So I said, ‘OK, I’ll be a cowboy.’”
Jeff Vespa
"Wild" women Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon, who said of the actress who played her mother: "She can turn any press junket or film festival into the best party you’ve ever been to."
Jeff Vespa
“We walked, we shared the stories of our lives, and we put the film together for everyone who has ever felt lost in their life," Reese Witherspoon said about working with "Wild" co-star Laura Dern
Jeff Vespa
"Selma" actor David Oyelowo said: “It’s an amazing thing when a role in a film comes along that you know is going to be one of the greatest things you will ever do in your life.”
Jeff Vespa
A PSFF highlight came when Brad Pitt introduced David Oyelowo and taught the whole crowd how to pronounce his name.
Jeff Vespa
Eddie Redmayne's remarkable turn in "The Theory of Everything" captivated the PSFF jury to the point of awarding him the Desert Palm Achievement Award.
Jeff Vespa
Felicity Jones brought a red lip and a bright smile to support her "Theory of Everything" costar Eddie Redmayne.
Jeff Vespa
“Day one, I’ll never forget, we were shooting in Cambridge. It was my first scene playing young Stephen, and Jane came running up and said, ‘No, Ed, his hair would be much messier!’ What an extraordinary thing to have Jane Hawking doing my hair," Eddie Redmayne (with Felicity Jones and James Marsh) recalled of filming "The Theory of Everything."
Jeff Vespa
“There’s something so universal about the human condition of growing up with siblings and parents, with how we maneuver through the world over time -- you can’t not relate to it on some level, which means the response to this film has been fun and heartfelt and kind of beautiful," Richard Linklater said of "Boyhood's" 12 year journey.
Jeff Vespa
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Before the Oscars are handed out, see where the road to gold began for Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore and Alejandro González Iñárritu with photos by Jeff Vespa at the Palm Springs Film Festival
Julianne Moore stuns in both a red frock and with her performance in "Still Alice." She claimed the Desert Palm Achievement Award for her turn as a woman suffering early onset Alzheimer's. “Obviously it was a very emotional role, but I brought home the joyful parts, the appreciation of life and of my own family," Said Moore. "This was a story about facing loss, but also about acknowledging those things.”
Jeff Vespa
Jeff Vespa
